Flexitime

[Jsj1608]

Hi there,

I start a new job soon with flexitime. I’ve never worked in a flexitime arrangement before so I wouldn’t of anyone can explain how it would work? The company’s core hours are 9-5pm. I’ll be working 22.5 hours with half hr unpaid break in the day. I can choose the days I work.

Im just wondering if I can collect my children at say 3.00-3.30 then continue working to make up the 30 minutes later that day? Is that how flexitime works, you just make sure you do the hours?

any advice appreciated ☺️☺️

It will depend on your company I think. With mine, you had to be in from 10-12 and 3-4 but could work your hours any time in addition to those compulsory hours (although the time clocks started at 8am and stopped at something like 6:30)

I've worked flexitime in several jobs and they've all been a bit different so you really need to check your T&Cs. In my last job I worked 37.5 hours, the core hours were 10-12 and 2-4 so you had to work those but also do the rest of your hours between 8 and 6 (anything outside that didn't count). We all clocked in and out.

My current job is flexible with no specific fixed hours but you are assumed to be at work roughly 9-4 plus whenever to do your hours, due to the nature of it it is not possible to assume you can pop out at any given time unless by prior arrangement so someone can cover if necessary eg if you know you need to go to the dentist, school pickup every day would definitely not work. Totally depends on nature of job though.

At my organisation, flexi time is 7am to 7pm, with a minimum 30 minutes for lunch. You have to work at least 2 hours before 12noon and at least 1.5 hours after 2pm.

A lot of people do 7:30 to 3:30.
My colleague does 10am to 6pm. It's obviously flexible in that if you have a Dr appointment you can clock out/in for that and make up the time another day.

Many people work over 7.5hrs/day so they accrue extra hours so they can take a "flexi day" for an additional day off.

WFH with primary aged children is not allowed - so if you have picked up kids from school you can't also work with them in the house (unless you have someone else looking after them).

As pp have said the rules for your employers flexitime will be specific to them. No reason why you can’t ask for a copy of the policy/rules before you start. Just say you want to understand how it works before you start.

You can’t WFH whilst caring for children but no reason why you can’t do 30 mins/1 hour in the evening when your partner is home.

One option is to have child care for one day and do long hours and then two shorter days e.g. 10.5 hours, 6 hours x 2 days = 22.5 hours.

Based on what you've written (which might not actually be what's in the contract/policy) you would need to work 9-5 on the days you work, only leaving to do the school run if that was your 30min break (so skipping lunch). That seems unlikely. 9-5 is a normal working day, if you had to do those hours as full time there would be no hours left to do flexibly. It could mean 'someone' needs to be in between 9-5, or all your hours must be between 9-5, or you must do 3 full days rather than 5 part days. It may be obvious from the type of work, otherwise you need to ask.
Fwiw no one where I am would care if you did what you want to do.

Are the core hours definitely 9-5? At my organisation core hours are 10-11 & 2-3. We can work any hours between 7am and 7pm as long as we're online between those 2 hours. So essentially can start any time between 7am and 10am.

Core hours usually means you have to work them. So I think instead you mean that you need to do 22.5hrs a week between 9 and 5. The first thing you need to find out if there are any core hours you will actually need to work over. Apart from that yes you can pick up from school then carry on, as long as you keep your time sheet accurately. However, I don't think it's right to work while carrying for your kids so for me your plan depends on age of kids and whether they are self sufficient.

I would take this to mean that you can work 22.5hours whenever you want throughout the week, as long as they are worked within the hours of 9-5.

So could be 3 x 6 hr days and 1x4.5 hr days with one day off or any other option in between.

You need to speak to your boss. Where I work flexi time is at manager's discretion.

I work flexi time. My available hours are 7-7 and core hours are 11-3. So I basically need to start between 7am and 11am, can't finish before 3pm and can work up until 7pm.

My manager is super flexible and basically doesnt care what we do as long as we work our 37 hours and work is done. But I know some managers who want their staff in by 8am and won't let them leave before 4pm.